Flatfingers wrote:
I do think there's a reasonable balance to be drawn between "breaking" and "working better." Racing around just keeping a system from falling apart is one kind of thoughtful gameplay -- designing strategies and implementing them with tactical effectiveness to create something new is a different kind of thoughtful gameplay. The balance between these two kinds of better-than-default gameplay will play a large role in determining the feel of the game.

yeah, definitely.

i guess for most of the time we can safely go with "working better" (i've also designed most of my suggestions with that gameplay in mind)

Scytale wrote:
further edit: are 087 and 1981 really applicable? maybe a space equivalent of 354? A nebula made of blood... wow. Just wow

the 2 formers arent likely to be transferable, no, i just provided them for reference / "giving the idea".

Scytale wrote:
Implementation is an important question~ elaborate!

087-esque things could be done as a series of wormholes or systems, actually many spatial anomalies could be done in such a way
but it would be interesting to create a sensor obscuring nebula, which depletes the player of all orientation, and have the player fly in (more or less forced) circles.

i dont think that we could generate such occurences completely from code, at most we could generate variations of known themes.
we'd probably have to hand craft many of those phenomenon.

considering the unique nature of most of the phenomenon we'd have to build unique code for each variation too
it'd be a ton of work.

One possibility might be Engineering: if you don't have someone working to find and repair low-level component failures, your ship's energy distribution efficiency begins to fall, gradually causing all of your energy-using systems to be less effective. With no attention, efficiency will fall to 50%, meaning you'll never be completely powerless but you'll definitely notice an improvement if you pay attention to fixing little problems.

I'm not saying I endorse this myself. I'm just offering a suggestion to try to explain the flavor of the "things break unless you keep them running" kind of gameplay that I distinguish from "permanent improvements can be created if you're perceptive and/or persistent enough" gameplay.

Details:
Contact info interface: allows sorting, storage and prioritization of ship, corporation, and NPCs of interest. New items
and objects can be given a "tag" which can later be searched for. The player can add descriptions and locations of where
the object was last seen.

Slicing program MK1: Provides the ability to scan a ship's logs, cargo, and crew manifest. This is useful for those who wish to verify the identity of potential trade partners. (More advanced versions of this software may be able to bypass more advanced systems and alter information)

Probe hacking: In addition to the MK1 Slicing program's features the ability to hack probes is also possible. At the most basic level a hacked probe can notify the hacker when a ship is near its location. For mining probes, a notification will be sent out stating that the ore deposit at its location has decreased. More advanced probes (along with more advanced slicing programs) can relay specific ship data such as the type of ship, the strain on the mining laser, and other useful information.

Initial purpose is a solarsystem-wide defense.
These Missiles are stored in a stationary missile depot and automatically engage enemies within their range. But, due to their more efficient (and slower) engine, they typically have a range up to a whole solar system. Besides they can use space highways.

Typical scenario:
A pirate fleet tries to invade "my" solar system and destroys my first defense fleet after entering the system. But at the moment they appear on the radar a bunch of advanced missiles had been started and head towards this fleet. They inflict massive damage and weakens/delays/destroys the enemy.

Pro:
+ Massive Damage
+ High Range
+ Fast

Contra:
- High costs at building
- Weak vs. Flak-Frigates
- Small upkeep
- Only hits once
- Needs a lot of research